Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
by ChristineCombeferre
Summary: After the barricade had fallen, after all hope was lost, after the revolutionaries were eliminated, Marius found himself the sole survivor. Heartbroken and guilt-ridden, Marius confronts what he lost. (One-shot)


Marius's grief was palpable in the air, as he sat in what previously had been the Cafe Musain. The horror that he felt at the fate that had befallen his friends was nothing compared to the guilt that he felt when he realized he was the only one to survive. Surely he was not the most deserving, especially when there had been Enjolras, Combeferre, and, he could barely bear to think it, Courfeyrac. Courfeyrac had been like Marius's brother. When Marius thought of his free-spirited, clever, funny, loving friend he wanted to cry. There had been so many more on the barricade too, many more than just the members of the Friends of the ABC. Marius could barely articulate his grief. Up until today it had been a soundless thing that hung in the air around him.

Cosette worried about Marius constantly. Before now it had hardly crossed her mind that _her_ Marius, her friend, her confidante, and her soul-mate had once belonged to others, if only in part. Cosette could also feel the pain and torment that surrounded Marius like a shroud. It had never been around Marius before the barricade, and now it never left him.

It had been Cosette's idea to visit the Cafe where Marius's friends had met so often in the past. Upon first arriving Cosette was terrified that she had made a horrible mistake. The unadulterated anguish on Marius's face had scared her half to death. But then he began to talk:

" _There's a grief that can't be spoken_

 _There's a pain goes on and on_

 _Empty chairs at empty tables_

 _Now my friends are dead and gone_

 _Here they talked of revolution_

 _Here it was they lit the flame_

 _Here they sang about tomorrow_

 _And tomorrow never came._

 _From the table in the corner_

 _They could see a world reborn_

 _And they rose with voices ringing_

 _I can hear them now!_

 _The very words that they had sung_

 _Became their last communion_

 _On the lonely barricade.._

 _At dawn._

 _Oh my friends, my friends forgive me._

 _That I live and you are gone_

 _There's a grief that can't be spoken_

 _There's a pain goes on and on_

 _Phantom faces at the window_

 _Phantom shadows on the floor_

 _Empty chairs at empty tables_

 _Where my friends will meet no more._

 _Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me_

 _What your sacrifice was for_

 _Empty chairs at empty tables_

 _Where my friends will sing no more…_ "

Marius looked as if a great burden had been lifted from him as he uttered these words. Relief flooded through Cosette as his face cleared. Everything was not perfect, and perhaps it never would be again, but this was progress.

"Tell me about them." Cosette said suddenly.

Marius looked startled. and Cosette herself was surprised that the words had come out of her, but she also found herself genuinely interested. And at Cosette's urging Marius began to talk.

"My friends are…" Marius gulped "were, the best, most amazing people that you could ever hope to meet in this lifetime, or the next." as Marius spoke these words he found himself sure that there was another place, another life after this one where his friends lived on.

"There was Enjolras, he was our fearless leader. He was the most charismatic, beautiful person one could possibly encounter. Even when he knew there was no hope left, he managed to inspire hope in others.

Then there was Combeferre…."

Cosette's mind was swept away as Marius described the ingenious Combeferre, the brave Bahorel, the hard-working Feuilly, the accepting Jehan, the goodnatured Bousset, the cautious Joly, and the cynical Grantaire. He talked about small Gavroche, dying valiantly, while taunting the french army. Marius spoke of the comradery at the barricade with complete strangers, all fighting for the same cause. As he spoke, Cosette could feel the laughter and warmth that had once been contained in this very room swirl around her, as if the spirits of the Friends of the ABC were watching over them. Then all at once Marius's eyes filled with tears anew.

"Courfeyrac was like no other. He was a brother to me, he found me, helped me in my darkest hour, at time of my greatest need. He did everything that he could for me with a smile on his face." Marius took a shuddering breath and fell quiet.

"Well then I am very grateful to Courfeyrac." Cosette whispered, her eyes had misted over as she realized that she would never be able to meet any of the incredible people described to her. "Is that everyone?" she said in a shaky voice.

"Almost." Marius said, suddenly he looked at her as if gauging her reaction and seeing if she could handle more. "There was a girl at the barricade, she disguised herself as a boy and she delivered the letter that you wrote to me."

Cosette gasped, as she realized the full implications of this, that Marius had received her letter atop the barricade, and there had been a girl fighting.

"The girl, her name was Eponine, she was my neighbor, she helped me to find your address. And then she saved me at the barricade."

Cosette stifled a cry, for she recognized that name. A distant memory came to her from when she had been a young girl. She had lived with a family, a terrible, cruel family that she had not thought of in a very long time, this family had a daughter named Eponine…

"I did not see a marksman come up to me, she pulled the gun away from me and onto herself. The gunman shot her and she died." Marius finished.

Cosette stared at Marius for a long moment then said, "then I am grateful to Eponine as well."

The couple sat there for a moment longer, gathering their thoughts. Marius looked as if the shroud of suffering had been lifted from around him, and they left, never to return.

-o-

That night Cosette took out her wedding dress and looked at it. In less than two weeks she would be wearing it on her wedding day. She smiled contentedly at the thought. But there was something nagging at the back of her mind, there was a pool of unease at the pit of her stomach.

Cosette laid down in her bed and blew out the candle. What was wrong? Marius was doing a great deal better since their excursion to the Cafe Musain, so Cosette should be happier too. But she was not. She drifted off to sleep, the names of those who Marius had spoken of playing through her mind.

Suddenly, Cosette awoke with a start. It was still night out, but her candle was lit on top of the trunk at the bottom of her bed. Next to the candle sat a girl, about Cosette's age with dark hair, and brown eyes. She was wearing a white dress and she smiled at Cosette.

"You know, when I first saw you again after all those years, I was quite jealous. Of you in your pretty dress, with your clean face and lovely hair. Then Marius asked about you and I positively hated you. I wasn't going to give him that letter, you know." the girl said thoughtfully, "but then I did."

"Why _did_ you, Eponine? Give him the letter I mean." Cosette whispered.

Eponine smiled sadly at Cosette. "He was never mine to begin with. He was always yours, and you were always his. And what's more, I'm happy, for both of you. Sometimes I wondered what happened to that little serving girl from the inn, and now I know: she's no longer a slave but a princess."

"I'm sorry you died." Cosette murmured, too stunned to say anything else.

"Well don't be." Eponine said, "I'm better off this way, besides I'll see you both again, someday."

Cosette nodded mutely.

"Take care of him, Cosette. And tell him that no one up there," she pointed to the ceiling, "resents him for surviving. Oh and Courfeyrac wants me to thank you for taking him to say goodbye at the Cafe." she added as an afterthought, leaving Cosette completely speechless.

Then Eponine was gone, Cosette blinked her eyes, and it was morning.


End file.
